Improvement in car-propellers



.1. DAY. fiar-Propellers.

Patented September 2,1873.

AM 3907 7 -l lr/MMA PHIL 60. M X '05,; Mus

KTA'IES UNITED IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-PROPELLERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 142,443, dated September 2, 1873; application filed May 31, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J UsTUs DAY, of Holley, in the county of Orleans and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Moving Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same.

My invention consists of a Windlass mounted upon a hand-car, and so arranged in connection with two anchor-cords and a-draft-oord as to wind up all of said cords simultaneously, thereby increasing the motion of the car to be moved. It also consists in the employment of clamping devices of a peculiar kind for attachin g direct to the rails.

-In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, a perspective view of one of the clamping devices.

A represents ahand-car of any desired size or form, and provided with wheels a a, which run upon the track. B is a platform pivoted in the center to the car. 0 is a Windlass, mounted in bearings c c of the platform, and provided with a crank, d, at one end, and gears f g and a'crank, d, at the other. h h are footboards at the ends of the platform for the operator to stand on in turning the cranks. 'i i are handles to the car for facilitating the removal and replacing of the hand-car from or onto the track. kit 70 are spool-heads dividin g the length of the Windlass into three winding-divisions, I ll. D D are the two anchorcords or chains which hold the hand-car to the track; and E is the draft cord or chain which extends back and attaches to the heavy car to be started and moved. The draft-cord winds upon the middle windin g-division Z of the windlass,while the anchor-cords wind upon the end divisions l l. The draft-cord and the anchorcords wind in opposite directions by one passin g over the Windlass and the other under, as shown. G G are clamping devices, in the shape of pinchers or tongs, at the ends of the anchor-cords, which attach directly to the rails. The two levers m m of these clamps are pivoted at n, so that when the long ends of the levers are closed the short ends will clamp upon the heads of the rail at any position and hold there. The end of the anchorcord is attached fast to one lever, as shown at p, and passed through a loop or eye of the other, as shown at r. The strain of the windlass, therefore, in turning up, will cause the clamps to tighten upon the rail. The clamphead of the nippers is provided with vertical offsets or projectionss s, of sufficient depth-.to sit down over the head of the rail and embrace the same. The inner faces are also provided with a groove, to, to receive the rail, and this groove may be serrated or notched to hold more tightly. In addition to the above, I curve the outer ends of the long levers upward, as shown, so that when the strain of the anchor-cord is applied the tendency will be to draw down the outer end of the clamp, thereby causing the bearing of the clamp-end to twist upon the rail vertically, and thereby secure a hold additional to the simple horizontal clamping.

The action of this apparatus will be readily understood. The hand-car A is run to any desired position, and anchored to the track by engaging the clamps G G therewith, as before described. The draft-cord E is also connected, by its hook t or otherwise, with the car to be moved. If the resistance is light the crank 01 is turned to give motion to the Windlass; if it is heavy the crank 01 is turned, by which a greater leverage, but a slower motion, is attained. The Windlass winds up all the cords at once, by which means double the amount of motion is given to the loaded car than would be if the anchor-car were stationary and the single draft-cord E only wound up.

It will be noticed that the anchor-car A moves up toward the point of attachment just as fast as the anchor-cords D D wind on the Windlass, while the loaded car H gets the henefit of that motion and the additional motion of the winding of cord E.

The power necessary to apply is comparatively light, and cars at stations or other points can be readily and expeditiously moved where it is not convenient to employ a locomotive.

The arranging of the Windlass into the winding-divisions l l i is of importance, as it is necessary to keep the strain of the draft-cord E as nearly divided as possible between the two outer cords D D, and it is also as necessary ATEN'I OFFICE.

to keep the winding of the latter as nearly as possible in the direction of the length of the cords.

The advantages of the clamps G Gare that they can be connected with the rails at any point indifferently, and they hold the tighter the greater the resistance is. In this respect they are more effective than a device which hooks to the ties. They are more effective than the latter in winter when the ties are covered with snow and frozen in. If desired, however, the offsets s 8 may be made of sufficient projection to form hooks for hooking upon the ties. Another advantage of the clamps G G is, that they may be drawn out perfectly straight and clamped in that position, so that there is no slack motion. Another advantage is in the diamond or angular form of the groove in, which causes the clamp to bite on the upper and under side of the head of the rail to sink the serrations or teeth in place.

It will be noticed, also, as a special advantage of my invention that the hand-car A moves out of the way of the loaded car in being drawn up, so that the latter has a much longer length of travel than it would if the hand'car were stationary at a given point.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the Windlass O having the divisions l Z Z, the draft-cord E and anchor-cords D D, the whole adapted to a hand-ear, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In combination with the Windlass G and anchor-cords D D, the clamps G G or equivalent, arranged to clamp the rails, the whole adapted to a car, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

J U SIUS DAY.

Witnesses:

R. F. Oseoon, HENRY M. THOMAS. 

